Apple has released iAd Producer, a new tool for designing interactive "rich media ads" using web standards for distribution through its iAd network within iOS apps, in a direct blow to Adobe's Flash developer tools, the current standard among many web and mobile ad designers.

Apple's new HTML5 development tool graphically lays out the structure and flow of iAd elements within an iOS advertisement in a "powerful visual editing canvas," the company states in its announcement aimed at developers.

The new tool incorporates a variety of technologies from Xcode, Apple's Integrated Development Environment for Mac and iOS software.

At the introduction of Xcode 4 this summer, AppleInsiderprojected that the company's increasingly sophisticated, graphical software development tool could portend new HTML5 development tools, specifically noting that "one example of how the company's significant investments in creating Xcode 4 could be applied is in shipping a web development tool aimed at creating HTML5 content for the web and for use within web-based tools such as Apple's iAd mobile advertising program."

Introducing iAd Producer

The new iAd Producer development tool provides more than a dozen templates for creating page views, including Cover Flow and carousel image galleries and geographic maps. A variety of interface components are also provided to enable developers to add media playback controls, standard buttons, sliders and switches, progress indicators and flip views without needing to write any code.

iAd Producer also enables developers to easily add animated transitions and effects to their artwork and pages, and catalogs media assets used in iAd projects, such as graphics, videos, and SVG fonts. The resulting content acts as a self-contained HTML5 website that can be inserted into existing iOS apps to present an interactive advertising experience.

The new tool also provides advanced JavaScript editing that allows web developers to create custom interactivity code with standard development features such as auto-completion and indentation, syntax coloring and popup access to component event names.

iAd Producer also incorporates JavaScript debugging tools similar to those found in Xcode, in addition to validation checking that identifies common errors and "sure that your iAd content is ready for prime time before you submit it to the iAd Network."

iAd expansion further promotes HTML5

Apple has been rapidly expanding its iAd program after acquiring Quattro Wireless less than a year ago and converting its conventional mobile ad banner network into the immersive, app-embedded iAd experience.

The company launched major new iAd campaigns to Europe earlier this month with L'Or?al, Renault, Louis Vuitton, Nespresso, Perrier, Unilever, Citi, Evian, LG Display, AB InBev, Turkish Airlines and Absolute Radio, and created the first iAd presentation for iPad to promote Disney's "Tron Legacy."

Apple previously had no real experience in advertising, but recognized the need for ads to help support mobile software titles. The company's chief executive Steve Jobs said that existing mobile ads, like those served by Quattro and Google's AdMob, "suck," and the iAd would enable brands to deliver high quality, valuable experiences that customers would find interesting, useful, and non-intrusive because they don't dump users out of their existing app and into the external web browser after being clicked.

Jobs described iAds as using standards-based HTML5 content exclusively, rather than delivering proprietary binaries created by web-alternatives such as Flash or Microsoft's Silverlight.

Apple's efforts to push mobile content back to using web standards--leveraged by its powerful position in smartphones, tablets and media players, has prompted Adobe to refocus efforts on delivering HTML5 tools and has forced Microsoft to dramatically scale back its plans for Silverlight and instead focus on delivering HTML5 compliance in future versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

Web content distributors, including Google's YouTube, Vimeo, Brightcove, and even pornographer Digital Playground have all taken steps to support HTML5, joined by a variety of web developers and services (ranging from Virgin America to Scribd) that also want to reach iOS devices.

64 bit only. Too bad since my coding machine is an old iMac core solo. The family machine is a new iMac but I can't code in that room so I finally have a good excuse to retire my old machine. Off to the Apple store for my new xmas present.

64 bit only. Too bad since my coding machine is an old iMac core solo. The family machine is a new iMac but I can't code in that room so I finally have a good excuse to retire my old machine. Off to the Apple store for my new xmas present.

Why else do you think it's 64-bit only?

As a shareholder, thanks for complying with this week's arbitrary requirement to buy a new Mac.

Apple might as well go all the way with this one and go beyond iAd. Why not make an HTML5/web authoring tool to compete with Adobe. Or maybe it's already in the works..

Well for starters, there's a huge business model behind creating iAd content and a huge vacuum in HTML5 development tools that are appropriate for building iAds. Money makes things work.

There is not a huge market behind tools for creating alternatives to Flash games (which themselves have no business model), or Flash animations on the web, or CD ROMS or some of the other aspects of Flash. Apple isn't looking to compete with the entire Flash ecosystem, just the parts that have revenue tied to them:

There are increasingly fewer lucrative aspects of Flash that Apple hasn't created alternatives for. They don't have to replicate Flash to replace it, just as they don't have to replicate every bit of Windows or build a netbook or web terminal or blade server to make money with Macs.

I think most of us saw this coming a mile away. No other reason to make Cocoa-based iOS apps HTML/CSS/JS if you dont plan to eventually unseat Adobe Flash ads across the web as a whole.

By the way it is not applicable to the web as a whole only iOS app ads not desktop browser ads. It is entirely specific to a single ad instance not ads all over a page as is commonly found in a typical web page.

Apple's efforts to push mobile content back to using web standards--leveraged by its powerful position in smartphones, tablets and media players, has prompted Adobe to refocus efforts on delivering HTML5 tools and has forced Microsoft to dramatically scale back its plans for Silverlight and instead focus on delivering HTML5 compliance in future versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

Oh don't flatter yourself, the reason why IE is going with compliance is because of the web developer community response after they announced they were still not going to be "compliant" with IE 9. The only thing that could be true is Microsoft silverlight and Adobe. But IE compliance has nothing to do with apple.

By the way it is not applicable to the web as a whole only iOS app ads not desktop browser ads. It is entirely specific to a single ad instance not ads all over a page as is commonly found in a typical web page.

Give it time. I think this is just the next step leading up to that.

PS: RatonalTrolls rationale was completely wrong, as pointed out in the thread he linked to.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

I tried it out. Very easy to use. Not sure how flexible it is. I don't know if this portends new HTML5 tools. Let's not forget they made Dashcode for creating Dashboard widgets and later promoted it as a way to create iOS web apps (iAd Producer, too, could probably be used to create limited iOS web apps).

I suspect Apple has some serious in-house HTML5 tools, since its websites has consistently been a cutting-edge example of what you can do without Flash, but so far they've shown no interest in releasing a general purpose toolset.

Oh don't flatter yourself, the reason why IE is going with compliance is because of the web developer community response after they announced they were still not going to be "compliant" with IE 9. The only thing that could be true is Microsoft silverlight and Adobe. But IE compliance has nothing to do with apple.

The article doesn't say that Apple is the only responsible for MS making IE9 compliant.

It says that Apple's push has created awareness in the market. Developers liked the idea and pressured MS. And it took some time for that to happen... Apple partnered with Opera and other players and started WHAT-WG some years ago!

So, Apple is not the only responsible for MS making IE9 compliant, but they sure helped shape the movement that ended up forcing MS to "behave".

PS: RatonalTroll’s rationale was completely wrong, as pointed out in the thread he linked to.

As I have stated in earlier threads, JS ads are very difficult to integrate into an average web page that already has scripts. Unlike Adobe Flash ads that are self contained, encapsulated, and completely independent, JS ads are at the mercy of any other Javascript code already running on the page.

There is a trend toward 'on page load' event functions that need to be aware of all scripts on the page. The only way to prevent conflicts is to control the entire page - something that requires realtime monitoring of the entire web site deployment. That is a huge undertaking which is far beyond the scope of simply creating iAds.

As I have stated in earlier threads, JS ads are very difficult to integrate into an average web page that already has scripts. Unlike Adobe Flash ads that are self contained, encapsulated, and completely independent, JS ads are at the mercy of any other Javascript code already running on the page.

There is a trend toward 'on page load' event functions that need to be aware of all scripts on the page. The only way to prevent conflicts is to control the entire page - something that requires realtime monitoring of the entire web site deployment. That is a huge undertaking which is far beyond the scope of simply creating iAds.

I dont disagree, but I think its Apples ultimate goal, nonetheless. There are already plenty of Flash-less ads for webpages for non-Desktop OS devices. I think Apple will be pushing into these areas next and eventually to desktop OS browsers. It could be a few years, but I dont see how they wont be working toward accomplishing this goal.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

I don’t disagree, but I think it’s Apple’s ultimate goal, nonetheless. There are already plenty of Flash-less ads for webpages for non-Desktop OS devices. I think Apple will be pushing into these areas next and eventually to desktop OS browsers. It could be a few years, but I don’t see how they won’t be working toward accomplishing this goal.

I don't disagree with that either but from a pragmatic perspective what I observe currently on pages such as AI, is there are ads from google, double click, and dozens of other agencies all loading into the page. In order for JS ads to play nice there needs to be an integrator service that dynamically checks for JS conflicts and then renames functions and global variables in order to avoid fatal errors. As it is now the services are delivering either Flash or straight HTML into a div with no interactivity or conditional behavior.

I suspect that HTML5 isn't yet ready for immersive ads on iOS devices. Once Advertising agencies start producing banner interactions that border on games, we'll soon see that there will need to be a lot of optimizations from the device's OS.

For instance go to pirateslovedaisies.com (while a real HTML5 game) It play's fine on the latest Android handset, however it was unusable on my iPod Touch 4g.

It's a pity that my iPod isn't yet optimized for HTML5.

Can anyone make it work on an iPad?

Advertisers wont be happy maintaining two sets of code bases in the same HTML 5 standard simply because the website banner runs poorly in the iAd version. When you add this to the mix of cross browser implementation incompatibilities, we're worse off than the bad old days of Netscape and MS.

Maybe Apple could come up with a plug-in/standard that handles all these compatibility/optimization issues for us?

I agree. I think Apple is working with their huge iOS developer base then will move forward. However, I don't think they will give it away for free unless Apple goes into web advertisement business, which I think is unlikely.

As I have stated in earlier threads, JS ads are very difficult to integrate into an average web page that already has scripts. Unlike Adobe Flash ads that are self contained, encapsulated, and completely independent, JS ads are at the mercy of any other Javascript code already running on the page.

There is a trend toward 'on page load' event functions that need to be aware of all scripts on the page. The only way to prevent conflicts is to control the entire page - something that requires realtime monitoring of the entire web site deployment. That is a huge undertaking which is far beyond the scope of simply creating iAds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by solipsism

I don’t disagree, but I think it’s Apple’s ultimate goal, nonetheless. There are already plenty of Flash-less ads for webpages for non-Desktop OS devices. I think Apple will be pushing into these areas next and eventually to desktop OS browsers. It could be a few years, but I don’t see how they won’t be working toward accomplishing this goal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstone

I don't disagree with that either but from a pragmatic perspective what I observe currently on pages such as AI, is there are ads from google, double click, and dozens of other agencies all loading into the page. In order for JS ads to play nice there needs to be an integrator service that dynamically checks for JS conflicts and then renames functions and global variables in order to avoid fatal errors. As it is now the services are delivering either Flash or straight HTML into a div with no interactivity or conditional behavior.

Back in the late 1990s when I did web sites, I used a lot of JavaScript with things like hidden frames to do things like download data, while the user was doing something else. This gave good performance over slow connections with a responsive UI.

The key, here was: as the developer, i was in total control of what went on on the web site. A random banner ad with an animated gif was about the only source of outside interference.

Little by little, banner ads were supplanted by ever more intrusive ads -- to the point we have today, a big mishmash of content intermingled with ads and popups, with, apparently no one in control -- especially the user.

Flash helps a little with encapsulation, but at the cost of performance -- and now we are inundated with the rich-reach-retch glitz of Flash.

iAd adresses this by displaying a single, targeted ad banner at-a-time -- with a user opt-in-in-place to view the ad without leaving the app.

The iAd format is nesessitated by the small screen and single window of the smaller screens.

So, the user of an iPhone or iPad is left with a better ad experience within an app, than within the mobile browser (with multiple HTML5 ads).

Isn't that interesting! Potentially, the most distracting and irritating (ad) experience on the iPad is the Safari browser.

So, I as a user, can eliminate most of the bad-ads experience by using an aggregator app instead of a gp browser.

I like that! I can focus on what I want to do -- and opt in to ads as desired. I can tolerate a single non-intrusive ad on a page/screen.

Mmmm... Maybe the big boys could learn something from the new kid.

How much more attractive would a web site be if it used an iAd-like construct -- than the [not so] free for all we have today.

All things equal, I would seek out the sites that functioned (and presented ads) the way an iPad app doees -- whether on an iPad or any other computer,

"Swift generally gets you to the right way much quicker." - auxio -

"The perfect [birth]day -- A little playtime, a good poop, and a long nap." - Tomato Greeting Cards -

Apple's efforts to push mobile content back to using web standards--leveraged by its powerful position in smartphones, tablets and media players, has prompted Adobe to refocus efforts on delivering HTML5 tools and has forced Microsoft to dramatically scale back its plans for Silverlight and instead focus on delivering HTML5 compliance in future versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

I just love reading such -recurring- gratuitous and far fetched propaganda/wishful thinking. That's what one call "intellectual honesty"? Indeed.

Oh don't flatter yourself, the reason why IE is going with compliance is because of the web developer community response after they announced they were still not going to be "compliant" with IE 9. The only thing that could be true is Microsoft silverlight and Adobe. But IE compliance has nothing to do with apple.

Nonsense, of course it does. The market is moving dynamically in unison because of Apple digging in its heals. Why else would it be happening? Apple is creating the critical mass to finally bury proprietary crapware like silverlight and flash.

As I have stated in earlier threads, JS ads are very difficult to integrate into an average web page that already has scripts. Unlike Adobe Flash ads that are self contained, encapsulated, and completely independent, JS ads are at the mercy of any other Javascript code already running on the page.

There is a trend toward 'on page load' event functions that need to be aware of all scripts on the page. The only way to prevent conflicts is to control the entire page - something that requires realtime monitoring of the entire web site deployment. That is a huge undertaking which is far beyond the scope of simply creating iAds.

Apple has a lot of really really smart people working on this. They will sort it out. No one said it was going to be easy, but happen it will.

I think most of us saw this coming a mile away. No other reason to make Cocoa-based iOS apps HTML/CSS/JS if you dont plan to eventually unseat Adobe Flash ads across the web as a whole.

Beat me to it. This is just a first 'baby step' to begin their takeover. It shouldn't require a full version of Flash to create simple web ads. If this comes out as free, I think we'll see some different numbers from iAd next year.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Apple's efforts to push mobile content back to using web standards--leveraged by its powerful position in smartphones, tablets and media players, has prompted Adobe to refocus efforts on delivering HTML5 tools and has forced Microsoft to dramatically scale back its plans for Silverlight and instead focus on delivering HTML5 compliance in future versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sensi

I just love reading such -recurring- gratuitous and far fetched propaganda/wishful thinking. That's what one call "intellectual honesty"? Indeed.

Please get yourself an education on this topic since you don't have anything intelligent to add. Dan is right on the money - one merely needs to look at what is happening with these two companies to understand this.

Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Apple's efforts to push mobile content back to using web standards--leveraged by its powerful position in smartphones, tablets and media players, has prompted Adobe to refocus efforts on delivering HTML5 tools and has forced Microsoft to dramatically scale back its plans for Silverlight and instead focus on delivering HTML5 compliance in future versions of its Internet Explorer browser.

Please get yourself an education on this topic since you don't have anything intelligent to add. Dan is right on the money - one merely needs to look at what is happening with these two companies to understand this.

Remember just a year or two ago when Flash proponents were saying HTML5 was "ten years out" and that no browsers supported enough of the spec to be useful?

The fact that Apple created a mobile iOS web platform with something like 50 million (valuable) users all running the same browser, and one that didn't support Flash or Silverlight but is quite modern in its HTML5 implementation (and can rapidly upgrade itself toward progress in that regard) really changed things.

Without Apple's work on iOS, we'd be unlikely to have a mobile WebKit on every platform apart from WP7. We'd also have little pressure behind MS to get on the HTML5 bandwagon instead of Silverlight (which wasn't the case at the beginning of 2010!) and Google would likely still be pushing Flash and Google Gears instead of being able to focus on HTML5.

In retrospect, it appears Apple invested in Safari because it had the iPad in mind, and needed a browser. Without that, we wouldn't have Chrome either, and instead just an IE tied to Silverlight on one side and Firefox tied to Flash and various toolkits like Gears on the other, with nobody being able to make progress.

Now we have a socialist paradise where WebKit is rapidly taking over the desktop and owns mobile devices outright, and everyone else is motivated to match at least the same level of HTML5 compliance. Without Apple, we wouldn't have Canvas or much of the CSS3 animation stuff that adds a lot of the sizzle of HTML5.

If HTML5 were just a few nerdy RIA features on the order of Google Gears, nobody would think they needed it and it would suffer the platform catch-22 where you have no development and no users and no reason to think either will change.

There was a time when I went to Apple insider to see what was new in Apple hardware and software, but now it just seems to be nothing more than the PR arm of Apple. Every new product release is presented and accepted as both entirely true, entirely objective and as a gift from god. Apple is losing market share to Android at a rate that is unprecedented in even the insanely fast world of high tech, yet this site is acting as though Apple is in control of the future of smartphones. Not only is Apple not going to dictate a switch from Flash to... whatever it is they are trying to do, but everyday I speak to people who say one of the fatal flaws of IOS is the inability to play Flash. I realize that things change and something is surely going to replace the present version of Flash, but the likely hood that it will be something that Apple is doing is becoming smaller and smaller with each passing day and each additional competing device sold. Only a year ago Apple was the undisputed leader in the mobile OS market, today they Android sell more devices every day than Apple does (and that is even if you include ipads, which aren't really comparable), and Android isn't even yet available in a Google recommended tablet version. When Android tablets finally become available early next year there is every reason to believe that there will sell more Android tablets sold than Apple tablets. Surely it makes sense for Apple to continue developing new things but if they do not change their model (closed system) they will be in no position to drive the market away from Flash and into something else.